Udo Nöger by Sundaram Tagore Gallery

U D O N Ö G E R

PAINTING WITH LIGHT German-born artist Udo Nöger creates luminous his palette of dark, earthy hues until color began to monochrome paintings that capture light, movement and disappear altogether. energy expressed in highly minimalistic compositions. By the mid-nineties, Nöger began to focus Nöger, who grew up in Enger in Westphalia, Germany, exclusively on the interaction of light, space and emigrated to the U.S. in 1990 on a scholarship. Early color, favoring a minimal aesthetic. A desire to delve in his career, he was known for expressive figurative deeper into his concepts coupled with the boredom paintings that explored the dimensionality of color. he experienced always working on the front of a These raw, mixed-media works were often populated canvas prompted him to move beyond the surface by mysterious, archaic figures and symbolically both materially and conceptually. charged imagery inspired by his travels. Nöger experimented with paper at first, creating One such trip was to the South Pacific, where Nöger translucency with mineral oil to amplify the effects discovered ancient Rongorongo writings; a series of light on pigment applied to the back of the of elemental glyphs made up of animals, figures and paper. He then took the idea further, developing a symbols used by the people of Easter Island centuries technique that enabled him to capture, transform ago. Over time, he began to incorporate this ancient and reflect light, seemingly from inside his iconography into his work, eventually creating his own paintings. What distinguishes Nöger from other pictorial language, which gradually became more artists whose work is based on light is that he abstract. At the same time, Nöger began to refine engages light itself as a medium. 3

To produce works that appear to emanate light, Nöger employs an almost architectural approach. The paintings comprise three layers of canvas mounted on stretchers set at a distance from one another. The interior canvas, from which the artist cuts simplified biomorphic forms, functions as the pictorial plane. He treats the outermost canvas with mineral oil, which amplies its translucency bringing the composition to the forefront. The resulting works are subtle and atmospheric, both in appearance and in the manner in which they respond to their surroundings—the quality of light and time of day can impact the viewing experience. Although the paintings are rendered in a restrained palette of whites and grays, depending on the light illuminating the work, faint shades of blue, purple and green can emerge. Some of the canvases are bisected through the middle, Nöger’s desire to eliminate visual clutter leaves only the essential elements required to convey information— 4

light, space and form. In doing so, the artist creates a unique sensory experience for the viewer, one in which the intangible becomes material, but what is visible is merely an illusion.

untitled, 2021, mixed media on canvas, 56 x 40 inches/142 x 102 cm

Wiegend 4, 2019, mixed media on canvas, 78 x 107 inches/198.1 x 271.8 cm

Grosse Landschaft, 2016, mixed media on canvas, 75 x 96 inches/190.5 x 243.8 cm

Gleich Sein, 2016, mixed media on canvas, 96 x 75 inches/243.8 x 190.5 cm

Licht Blau 2, 2018, mixed media on canvas, 33 x 36 inches/83.8 x 91.4 cm

Carriage, 2016, mixed media on canvas, 75 x 192 inches/190.5 x 487.7 cm

Zeit - Fliessend 1, 2019, mixed media on canvas, 72 x 89 inches/182.9 x 226.1 cm

Zeit - Fliessend 5, 2019, mixed media on canvas, 56 x 40 inches/42.2 x 101.6 cm

Selbst - Schlafend, 2019, mixed media on canvas, 40 x 56 inches/101.6 x 142.2 cm

Wiegend 14, 2019, mixed media on canvas, 56 x 40 inches/142.2 x 101.6 cm

UDO NÖGER Udo Nöger’s work is in the permanent collections of The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York; Museum of Contemporary Art, Denver; Art Institute of Chicago; Bass Museum, Miami; and Haus der Kunst, Munich, among others. His work has been exhibited around the world, including at Siegerlandmuseum, Siegen, and the Karl Ernst Osthaus-Museum, Hagen, Germany; Daum Museum of Contemporary Art, Sedalia, Missouri; Museum of Art Honolulu; and the Museum of Contemporary Art, Denver. Born in Enger, Westfalen, Germany in 1961 | Works in San Diego, Miami and Geneva

SUNDARAM TAGORE GALLERIES The gallery has represented established and emerging artists from around the world since 2000. We show work that is aesthetically and intellectually rigorous, infused with humanism and art historically significant. We specialize in paintings, drawings, sculptures and installations with a strong emphasis on materiality. Our artists cross cultural and national boundaries, synthesizing Western visual language with forms, techniques and philosophies from Asia, the Subcontinent and the Middle East. We show this work alongside important work by overlooked women from the New York School. The gallery also has a robust photography program that includes some of the world’s most noted photographers.

NEW YORK Chelsea: 542 West 26th Street, New York, NY 10001 • tel 212 677 4520 Madison Avenue: 1100 Madison Avenue, New York, NY 10028 • tel 212 288 2889 gallery@sundaramtagore.com

SINGAPORE 5 Lock Road 01-05, Gillman Barracks, Singapore 108933 • tel 65 6694 3378 singapore@sundaramtagore.com

LONDON 4 Cromwell Place, London, SW7 2JE President and curator: Sundaram Tagore Senior Director, New York: Susan McCaffrey Director, Singapore: Melanie Taylor Director, New York: Kathryn McSweeney Registrar: Julia Occhiogrosso Designer: Russell Whitehead Editorial support: Kieran Doherty

WWW.SUNDARAMTAGORE.COM Text © 2021 Sundaram Tagore Gallery Photographs © 2021 Sundaram Tagore Gallery All rights reserved under international copyright conventions. No part of this catalogue may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopy, recording or any other information storage and retrieval system, without prior permission in writing from the publisher. Cover: Zeit - Fliessend 1, 2019, mixed media on canvas, 72 x 89 inches/182.9 x 226.1 cm